‘Pet Sematary’ Remake Gets Writer-Director Team Behind ‘Starry Eyes’

The long-awaited remake of Pet Sematary, Stephen King’s chilling story about a secret graveyard where buried pets come back to life (but EVIL!), now has its creative team in place. The writing-and-directing tandem of Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer will take on the project, according to Deadline, their first feature since 2014’s surprise indie hit Starry Eyes.

Kolsch and Widmeyer have been playing in the horror sandbox following Starry Eyes, having helmed the “Valentine’s Day” segment of 2016’s anthology Holidays and three episodes of MTV’s Scream. The duo were slated to create a sequel to 2013’s Mama, but that wound up never happening. (Mama, as you may recall, was directed by Muschietti, because everything in horror is connected.)

The original Pet Sematary, from 1989, was directed by Mary Lambert. It got middling reviews, but did solid business at the box office ($57 million) and even got a sequel, which didn’t do nearly as well. The story follows a young family who’ve recently moved to rural Maine. There, Louis Creed learns of an old Indian burial ground with supernatural properties, like the power to bring the dead back to life. When his 2-year-old son Gage is tragically killed, well, you can guess what idea pops into Louis’ head.